Israeli-Palestinian Peace Talks

Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Speaker, I come to the House floor today to congratulate Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on their decision to start proximity talks. I believe the United States' national security interest is directly linked to the resolution of this long-standing conflict. I also believe that, like other seemingly intractable conflicts, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be resolved, especially with the active and even-handed leadership of the United States. Congratulations to President Obama and Envoy Mitchell, who got right to work on Middle East peace right after the President's inauguration and, despite huge hurdles, have both been persistent.

I hope the President continues to encourage all parties to negotiate seriously and in good faith and to move from proximity talks to direct negotiations to reach agreement on final and permanent status issues. The world needs a secure Israel and it needs an independent, viable Palestinian state. However, simply declaring support for one side or the other does not really help either side. Both sides benefit from peace. We need to build a constituency for peace, and that means support for each side to make the necessary concessions.

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